Langkawi Day 2

Today we are taking another boat tour, but this time it is through mangroves instead of the open water.  We don't really know what to expect, but let's go!

After eating breakfast in our room (Maggi noodle soup and fresh mango), we ordered a Grab and took it 40 minutes to the far north part of Langkawi.  There we boarded a boat and off we went.  The pilot of the bot told us that today we will be traveling about 45 kilometers (28 miles) on the water...awesome.

The boat ride started in the open waters...just like yesterday...but in a totally different part of the Sea.  It was beautiful:

First stop on the tour was to feed fish at Dangli Island.  After paying for the tour, the woman told me to go to the shop next door and buy fish food and monkey food.  We passed on the monkey food, but I bought food for the fish...so here we are feeding them:

Next stop is a swimming break at Pasir Panjang Beach.  When we got there it was pretty quiet, but the boats kept coming and going. We hung out there for about 55 minutes of which I spent about 50 minutes in the water.  There I am it the right photo playing with the boat driver's kid.  I told him it was OK to leave him with us.  He spoke no English, but we had a nice time hanging out in the water.

Check it out...Shoe Island.

Here we are about to enter Kilim Geoforest Park.  I kind of dig this sign.

Entering the park, this is where the mangroves finally made an appearance.

The next stop on the boat tour was Bat Cave, where we were greeted by monkeys.

OK...I should have known not to enter a cave called Bat Cave since I really don't like bats, but I did and there were bats and I quickly got my butt out of there.  The others didn't seem to mind the bats for some reason...what the heck?!?

Ah...my favorite part of Bat Cave...the exit.  I really like the way the vines hang from the ceiling.  It looks very Raiders of the Lost Ark-like.

A mangrove forest all around us.

Back on the boat we zigged and zagged thouugh the mangroves.  It was pretty fun.

Next stop was Crocodile Cave.  During the rainy season when the river is higher, the boats can not fit through the cave.  Lucky for it is the dry season, so through the cave we went.

On the other side of the cave and after a few turns we came to an area dense with monkeys.  These monkey supposedly swim very well, but none of them felt like going for a dip, so we just enjoyed watching them hanging out in the jungle.

Like yesterday, we got to witness Eagle feeding.  I got a pretty good shot of the White Belly Sea Eagle.

Last on the tour they took us to a "fish farm" which was really just holding bins for a really expensive floating seafood restaurant.  We walked around and told the driver that we were ready to leave.  So he took us back to the Jetty.

We really enjoyed today's boat ride...probably better than yesterdays although they were pretty similar.  If we had to do it again, I think we would have just done the Mangrove Boat Tour, the one we did today.  Oh well..I am not going to complain about spending time on a boat zipping around this amazing area.

Next up on the agenda is to take a SkyCab (cable car) up to the top of Machincang mountain at 708 meters (2,323 feet) above sea level.  

As you can imagine, the ride up was spectacular.

There was an intermediate stop with a viewpoint, but we came here to go to the top which you can see in the right photo.

We finally made it.  After walking up a few flights of stairs we made it to the observation deck with more amazing views.  Do you see that bridge in the right photo...well...that is our next stop.

Here you had a choice to take a funicular down to the SkyBridge, or walk down what they said would be a 10 minute walk.  Tim and I choice the walk and Peter and Susan took the funicular. 

After only 5 minutes of walking...not 10 minutes...I made it to the start of the bridge even before Peter and Susan.  I'm pretty sure they are trying to scare people off of the walk so they would pay the extra money for the funicular.

This SkyBridge is an engineering marvel.  Check it out.

And check out the amazing view from the end of it:

OK...Time for Tim and I to climb back up from the SkyBridge.  We made it back with a total time of just over 10 minutes.  The advertised amount of time was 10 minutes each way.  We are hot and sweaty, but we are happy to be at the top and sitting down waiting for the funicular riders.

Back down we went on the cable car and then a Grab back to the hotel for cold shower and change of clothes.

Tim wanted pizza tonight, so I found a place on Google and we took a Grab to it.  Peter and Susan joined us, but found a Chinese restaurant instead.

We figured we should order a salad to go with our pizza, so we got a greek salad.  Both the salad and pizza was pretty good.  Total cost 53 MYR => $11.80

And for dessert, a 2-scoop ice cream cone for 12 MYR => $2.70 USD.

Wow...that was a long day.  We met back up with Peter and Susan, ordered a Grab back to the hotel, and called it a night.  Tomorrow we take the ferry back to the mainland and then drive to Panang Island.  Until them...